ETYMOLOGICAL NOTE TO SCOTLAND. Ben, or pen, signifies, as we have seen, a mountain, &c., and comes from the Celtic beann. Strath, from the British ystrad, and the Celtic srath, implies a broad valley; as Strathmore, big and broad valley; Strathclyde, &c. Glen, which is opposed to strath, is from the British glyn, and the Celtic gleann, a small or narrow valley; as Glencoe, &c. Dunbar is from the Celtic dun, and that from the British dinas, a hill, or town on a hill, and signifies the hill-town in honour of Bar, an individual, according to Hollinshed and Buchanan, on whom it was conferred by Kenneth I. Edinburgh stands for Edwin's burgh, or town. Its ancient name was Dunedin, which signifies the dun, or hill of Edwin. Kinross, from the Celtic ceann, a head, or headland, and ros, a promontory. Compare Roxburgh, Rossano (Italy), &c. Clackmannan. In Chambers's Gazetteer of Scotland we find the following interesting account of the origin of this name :-"At the east side of the quondam prison of Clackmannanshire lies a huge-shaped blue stone, which, having been broken into three pieces, is now bound with iron. This is a sort of burgal palladium or charter-stone, like the Clachnacudden of Inverness, the privileges of the town being supposed to depend, in some mysterious way, upon its existence, on which account it is looked upon by the inhabitants with a high degree of veneration. Its legendary history is curious. When King Robert Bruce was residing in Clackmannan tower, and before there was a town attached to that regal mansion, he happened, in passing one day near this way on a journey, to stop awhile at the stone, and, on going away, left his glove upon it. Not discovering his loss till he had proceeded about half-amile towards the south, he desired his servant to go back to the clack (for King Robert seems to have usually spoken his native Carrick Gaelic), and bring his mannan, or glove. The servant said, 'If ye'll just look about ye here, I'll be back wi't directly,' and accordingly soon returned with the missing article.. From this trivial circumstance arose the name of the town which was subsequently reared about the stone, as also that of a farm at which the King stopped, about half-a-mile from the south, on the way to Kincardine, which took its name from what the servant said, namely, 'Look about ye,' and is so called to this day." Stirling means the three waters, lin meaning a deep pool. In all the old records it is written Stryvelin, or Stryveling, because the three waters, viz., the Forth, Frith, and Allan, all unite near Stirling. Falkirk implies the church at or near the wall, from the Latin vallum, a wall. The wall of Antoninus passed very near the church. In the Celtic language Falkirk is sometimes called Eglisbris, or broken church. Dumbarton is derived from the Celtic dun, a hill, &c., and was formerly written Dunbreaton, or the hill-town of the Britons, "because the adjoining district was the residence of a tribe of Britons, called Attacotti, till the reign of Malcolm IV." Glasgow. Glas in Celtic signifies gray, and gow is the same with the German gau (as Aargau), a valley or country. Glasgow, therefore, means the dark vale or glen, in allusion to the ravine near which the earliest settlement was made. Paisley signifies the moist pasture-ground, leag being the Anglo-Saxon for fallow-ground, or a meadow. It is situated on the banks of the White Cart. Ayr. So called because situated upon the river Ayr. The word in Celtic probably means thin or shallow. Berwick-upon-Tweed. Two important etymologies have been advanced for the explanation of this name. One is that which deduces it from Aberwick, or the town at the mouth of the river (Tweed); aber signifying the mouth of a river or estuary, and wic (from the Latin vicus), a dwelling. Boswell supposes, and perhaps correctly, that it means the town of the Bernicians, the ancient inhabitants of that part of Northumbria. Its full title was Berniciorum Vicus. Melrose. A poetic form of Mulross, which signifies the bald or bare promontory, &c. It is derived from the Celtic maol, a bald or bare head, and ros, a promontory or peninsula. Inverary. At the mouth of the Ary, inver meaning mouth, being used by the first, and aber by the second migration of Celts. In like manner Inverness signifies at the mouth of the Ness, which falls into the Moray Firth. Ross. From the Celtic ros, a promontory. Perth was anciently called Bertha, probably derived from the Celtic brae, a hill, slope, or declivity, it being situated on a fine slope towards the Tay. Dumblane. The hill-town of St. Blane, or Blaan, who was the superior of a convent of Culdees here. Dunkeld. Derived from the Celtic dun, a hill, &c., and, signifies the fortified town of the Caledonians. Gibson, however, makes it to mean the town of hazel-trees, and says, that "These trees, growing thick in a soil yet unreclaimed, gave name both to the town and to the natives, the Caledons or Caledonians. They were one of the famous nations among the ancient Britons, occupying the central division of the Pictish kingdom-the Arcadia of Scotland. Mons Viminalis, one of the seven hills of Rome, which was covered with osiers (vimina), is a term nearly synonymous to [with] Dunkeld."-Etymological Geography. Arbroath is a contracted form of Aberbrothick, or the mouth of the Brothick ; from the Celtic aber, a mouth. Brechin means the top or head of the brae or declivity; brae, from the Celtic brugh, meaning a slope or declivity; and chin, from the Celtic ceann, a head. Kincardine signifies, in the Celtic language, the clan of friends or relations; being compounded of cine, kindred or tribe, and caraid, a relation or friend. Aberdeen, Aberdon, or Old Aberdeen, is situated at the confluence of the Don with the sea; New Aberdeen at the mouth of the Dee. Orkney probably implies the island (ea meaning an island) of seals or whales (oren?). Buchanan, an eminent Scotch historian and poet, says of the term Orkney--"Concerning the name itself, writers, both ancient and modern, are agreed well enough, but none, that I know, have yet explained its meaning." Edinburgh to Berwick, by the North British Railway, 58 miles. Edinburgh to Glasgow, by Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, 46 miles. Edinburgh to Stirling and Perth, first by the Edinburgh and Glasgow to Castlecary, and then by the Scottish Central, 45 miles; whole distance to Perth, 68 miles. Edinburgh to Dundee, by the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Railway, crossing the Frith of Forth at Granton, 50 miles. Glasgow to Carlisle, by the Caledonian Railway, 105 miles. Glasgow to Carlisle, by the Glasgow and South-Western Railway, passing Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Dumfries, 125 miles. Glasgow to Ayr, by the Glasgow and South-Western and Glasgow and Ayr, 40 miles. Glasgow to Greenock, by the Glasgow and Greenock, 22 miles. Glasgow to Helensburgh, 22 miles, with a branch from Dumbarton to Balloch on Loch Lomond. Glasgow to Perth, by Edinburgh and Glasgow to Castlecary, and thence by Scottish Central, 62 miles. Perth to Forfar, by Scottish Midland Junction, by Cupar-Angus, 324 miles. Perth to Forfar, by Dundee and Perth to Dundee, and by Dundee and Arbroath to Arbroath, &c., 53 miles. Perth to Aberdeen, by the Aberdeen Railway, 57 miles. Aberdeen to Keith, by the Great North of Scotland (with branches to Banff, Alford, Old Meldrum, and Portsoy), 53 miles. Aberdeen to Banchory, by the Deeside Railway, 17 miles. (b) Canals.+ Caledonian Canal, between Loch Linnhe and Beauly Firth, connecting the Moray Firth and the Atlantic; total length 60 miles, "but only 23 miles require to be executed, as the canal passes through Lochs Ness, Oich, and * As Scotland is such a very mountainous country, it cannot, in respect of railways, vie with England in either their extent or completeness. This drawback is, however, in a great measure compensated by the great natural advantages offered by her noble friths and estuaries. Edinburgh and Glasgow, as the above table will show, are the two principal railway foci of Scotland. The main lines of railway communication amount to twenty; and the number, in January, 1859, of miles open for traffic was 1342, exclusive of some hundreds in the course of construction. ↑ Although Scotland is outvied by the sister kingdom in her railways and canals, she by far surpasses England in her turnpike roads, which is accounted for by the fact of the excellence of the materials which she so largely possesses, as well as by the circumstance that the trustees and surveyors of the various turnpike roads of Scotland are skilful and scientific men. Inverness stands near Lochy, and terminates in Loch Eil, an arm of the sea. the one extremity, and Fort William near the other; and the long, narrow valley intervening is called Glenmore. Highest level, 91 feet; breadth, 120 feet; original depth, 15 feet; number of locks, 25; commenced in 1805 and finished in 1822; total cost 1,000,0007. sterling; but repaired and re-opened in 1847 at an expense of 200,0007.”—Mackay's elaborate Manual of Modern Geography. Forth and Clyde Canal, from Glasgow to Grangemouth, in Stirling, joining the Irish Sea and the German Ocean; length, 35 miles; completed in 1790; and extended from Falkirk to Edinburgh by the Union Canal, 31 miles long; and finished in 1822. Paisley Canal, from Glasgow, through Paisley, to Johnstone in Renfrewshire; length, 11 miles. Monkland Canal, between Glasgow and Airdrie, running by the Old Monkland Coal-Works; length, 12 miles. Crinan Canal, across the Isthmus of Cantyre, connecting Loch Fyne and the Sound of Jura; 9 miles long. Glenken's Canal, in Kirkcudbright, from the mouth of the Dee, through Loch Ken, to Daldry; length, 26 miles. PRINCIPAL SCOTCH WRITERS IN LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. POETRY.-Gaelic poetry-Ossian and Dugald Buchanan; Latin poetry-G. Buchanan; Scottish poetry-Gawin Douglas, Drummond, Dunbar, Lyndsay, Ramsay, Tannahill, Macneill, Tennant, Hogg, and Robert Burns; English poetry Thompson, Beattie, Scott, Campbell, Pollok, J. Montgomery, and Professor Wilson. HISTORY.-Buchanan, Burnet, Hume, Robertson, Henry, Russell, Watson, Scott, Mackintosh, Alison, Carlyle. PHYSICAL SCIENCE.-Napier, Ferguson, Gregory, Watt, Playfair, Maclaurin, Leslie, Sir David Brewster, Robert Brown, Hugh Miller, John Fleming, Sir Charles Lyell, and Sir Roderick Impey Murchison. MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.-Reid, Hume, Kames, Stewart, Brown, Mackintosh, Adam Smith, and Sir William Hamilton. THEOLOGY.-Knox, Leighton, Burnet, Boston, Maclaurin, Macknight, Campbell, Gerard, Brown of Haddington, Haliburton, Witherspoon, M'Crie, and Thomas Chalmers. MEDICINE.-Pitcairn, Munro, Gregory, Cullen, Abercrombie, W. Hunter, Baillie, Alison, Simpson, Christison, A. Combe, Abernethy, J. Hunter, John Bell, Sir Charles Bell, Sir James Clark, Sir John Forbes, Liston, Lizars, Sime, Miller. TRAVELS. — Bruce, Park, Clapperton, Simpson, Sir J. Ross, Dr. Living stone. FINE ARTS.-Wilkie, Nasmyth, Raeburn, Ramsay, and Jameson. MISCELLANEOUS.-Ruddiman, Boswell, Smollett, Mackenzie, Adam, Blair, Jeffrey, Lord Brougham, Professor Wilson, Sir Walter Scott, &c. |